The need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels if we're to tackle climate change has put nuclear energy back on the agenda - three decades after widespread public protests led to the cancellation of ESB plans to build a nuclear power station at Carnsore Point, Co Wexford.
The Irish Business and Employers Confederation has been lobbying for the nuclear option and so has Amicus, the trade union representing engineering and professional staff in the ESB - even though the previous Fianna Fáil/PD coalition was firmly against it.
Former environment minister Dick Roche did not accept the argument that nuclear could provide a solution to problems of climate change and energy supply: "The reality is that the nuclear industry carries with it serious environmental, nuclear proliferation and safety risks."
Last March, Ireland joined Austria, Iceland and Norway to launch an international campaign against the promotion of nuclear energy as a "silver bullet" for climate change. After a meeting in Dublin, they described nuclear as "economically and environmentally untenable".
In a statement, they said: "It is our collective view that the current debate seeks to downplay the environmental, waste, proliferation, nuclear liability and safety issues and seeks to portray nuclear energy as a clean, safe and problem-free response to climate change".
This was against the backdrop of a renewed drive in many European countries to use nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. Britain is proposing to build a new generation of nuclear power plants to replace older facilities, such as the Wyfa plant in north Wales.
Days after taking office as the first Green Party Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, startled party members by adding his voice to calls for a debate on nuclear power - even though he believes that it would not provide an easy or cheap solution.
One of the points made by Ibec is that, with plans now approved for a 500-megawatt interconnector between Ireland and Wales to link the Irish and British national grids, we will be importing nuclear-generated electricity anyway and should therefore have one of our own.
The Energy White Paper produced earlier this year by former minister for communications, energy and natural resources Noel Dempsey set a target of 33 per cent for renewable energy sources by 2020. It did not envisage any role for nuclear power.